I love the simple sophistication of Italian cuisine, and my favorite region is Tuscany (If you haven’t noticed already!). In the summer time I cook almost exclusively Italian, especially since it’s tomato season!

Today’s blog post embodies the very ingredients that Tuscans love and are known for: Bread, olive oil, basil and tomatoes. What could be better than that, right?

They all come together beautifully in a simple and rustic tomato and bread soup called pappa al pomodoro, one of the most traditional soups of the region.

As with any dish really, and especially with Tuscan dishes, the trick to making a fabulous pappa al pomodoro is to select ingredients of the highest quality, in this case, tomatoes.

The best tomatoes are of course, from your own garden or a garden nearby, such as a local farmer. This is when they are filled with ripe flavors and good enough to just snack on their own.

There is no ingredient more essential to Tuscan cuisine than olive oil. Tuscan olive oil is known for its fruitiness and low acidity.

I cannot stress how important it is to be mindful when purchasing olive oil as most of what you see on grocery store shelves are often rancid and blended with cheap seed oils and not true olive oil.

You can tell that the best olive oil smells fresh, fruity and/or grassy, which should mimic on the palate, often complemented by almonds. Visually it should be transparent with a golden-green color and have a full, pronounced flavor. Never buy olive oil in plastic bottles, they should come in glass bottles, preferably darkened glass as olive oil is highly susceptible to light.

Here are a couple of decent examples I actually found in my local market the other day, otherwise I prefer purchasing olive oil from specialty stores or direct from small farms and olive producers:

As with anything, purchasing quality ingredients cost more but in return, you are rewarded with exquisite flavors and the best nutrient availability from the olives. I’d typically pay about $35-40 for a 500 ml bottle of olive oil – that is when I know the product is good quality.

Tuscan bread is typically saltless, and not so easy to come by unless you make your own pane sciocco, as it’s called. However, if baking bread is not enticing, you can look for a good artisanal bread such as the sourdough loaf I picked up at a local farm stand the other day. Look for bread with a dense crumb and a thick, chewy crust.

Bread is eaten every day in Tuscany much like in my own home country of Norway – we are both big bread eaters! Of course, the breads are different but the significance and importance of bread is apparent wherever you go.

Being creative with using up all the bread comes with the territory, and you can see the Tuscans’ innovative uses for stale bread in this recipe and also in the equally delicious panzanella salad, which I featured in last week’s blog post.

Another interesting fact about pappa al pomodoro it’s very much associated with easy-to-digest, healthy food for babies! So much so that ‘pappa’ is a word that children refer to when speaking about any meal.

Mothers will run after their kids asking “Mangiamo la pappa?” (shall we eat our pappa?). The soup is an equally favorite dish among adults as it combines all the favorite ingredients that Tuscans love the most.

Many recipes for pappa al pomodoro do not add onions or carrots like I have, but soffrito is admitted sometimes. I like the extra sweetness of these vegetables, but be careful not to add too much because the tomatoes have to be the star.

I like to stir-fry the bread just a bit in olive oil before I add the liquid, but you can omit that and just cook down the bread in the water or stock, which is a traditional way to do it.

Finally, use a thick-bottomed pot to cook the soup. The classic way to cook pappa al pomodoro is in clay pots so if you have one, great! I used my Le Creuset which I love.

This is a very dense soup with a porridge-like consistency, the way I remember it when ordering it in Tuscany. The longer you can cook it, the better as the flavors will just continue to develop.

Remember to drizzle an extra amount of your best and favorite extra-virgin olive oil on top when serving and enjoy every delicious bite of this humble, flavor-packed soup!

Wine Recommendations

I’ve steered away a little from the classic Tuscan wine pairings for this article, so don’t kill me! If you’re a purist, any Sangiovese-based red wine from Tuscany would be wonderful with the soup.

I chose three different wines today, two Italians and one English (!) – try them out and you’ll see that these really offer wonderful partnering flavors to the soup.

2014 Hattingley Rosé Brut

England might not be the first country you think of for wine but they have gained a great reputation in recent years, particularly for sparkling wine. This gorgeous sparkler from Hamphire has quickly become one of my favorite wines and I grab every opportunity to drink it when I can, it always delivers!

Sparkling rosé is also one of the most food-friendly wines and one you can turn to whenever you’re in doubt about what to pick with a dish.

The Hattingley Rosé is made with Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, and the base wine is blended with 5% Pinot Precoceto which gives it a really beautiful orange-pink hue. The wine spends 2 years on the lees and 8% of the wine is fermented in 4-5 year old Burgundy barrels.

The wine has a lovely aroma of white flowers and brioche and offers lots of crunchy red berries on the palate in the form of cranberries, strawberries, and redcurrants, coupled with citrus and sourdough notes. The bready characteristics go very well with the bread soup for obvious reasons and the bright acidity is the perfect complement to the fresh tomatoes.

A very impressive wine that will make you a fan of English wine too, guaranteed!

2019 Feudi di San Gregorio Greco di Tufo

Greco di Tufo is such a wonderful partner for plant-based cuisine!

Why?

It has a fantastic combination of savory, earthy, fruity, and mineral qualities that partner so well with the myriad of vegetables and fruits, including the ones in this soup. Vegetables can be complicated because they have so many aromas, flavors, textures, and applications depending on how you prepare them but Greco di Tufo handles them very well.

The 2019 Feudi di San Gregorio is medium-bodied and brimming with ripe pear, peach, and apricot flavors as well as savory notes of almond and is a touch saline on the finish, making it appetizing and complimentary to the sea salt in the soup. I love the minerality in this wine making it so very adjustable to a variety of dishes.

2019 Feudo Montoni Lagnusa Nero d’Avola

This Silician red is aged in cement task, focusing on the pure and expressive black fruit flavors of Nero d’Avola. It has a beautiful floral nose of pink roses, balsamic herbs along with black cherries and raspberries which also comes through on the palate. There are some savory elements of olives, almonds and earthiness with a touch of smoky tar, which makes it really layered and interesting.

Silky with just the right amount of acidity and tanning on its medium body, this is just a delight to drink – it’s exactly what I want when opening a bottle of Nero d’Avola.

Made with organically grown grapes. Excellent value too!

Pappa al Pomodoro
(Tomato-Bread Soup)

½ cup (1 dl) extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 small Tropea onions (or substitute other onion), peeled and sliced
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, diced
4 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
4 cloves of garlic, divided
2 cups (5 dl) light vegetable stock
3 lbs (1.5 kilos) fresh ripe, red tomatoes, cored and diced
½ lb (0.25 kilos)country-style bread, crusts removed
2-3 stalks of basil
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Additional basil leaves and extra-virgin olive oil for garnish

Pour ¼ cup of the olive oil into a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, then throw in the onions, carrot, celery, flat-leaf parsley and 2 of the garlic cloves with a pinch of sea salt.

Cook for about 5-7 minutes while stirring occasionally, adding a little vegetable stock if needed to prevent the vegetables from sticking.

When the onions are starting to get soft and translucent, add the tomatoes with another couple of pinches of sea salt, bring to a simmer and cook for about 1 hour on low-medium heat. Add a little vegetable stock if needed.

Remove from the heat and let cool slightly before passing the mixture through a food mill with a medium disk.

Alternatively, add the mixture to a food processor and pulse a few times until you have the desired consistency.

Clean out the pot you were using, place it on medium-low heat, then pour in the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil. Throw in the other 2 garlic cloves along with a few basil leaves, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute, then add in the bread cubes with about 1 cup of vegetable stock.

Keep stirring and when the bread has completely broken down, add in the strained tomato puré mixture along with the remaining basil leaves.

Cook on low for about 1 hour or more, adding in a little water or veg stock if needed to keep the soup from sticking.

Season with salt and pepper and serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of vegan ricotta, a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and garnish with fresh basil leaves. Plus your favorite Tuscan or Italian wine of course!

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